Pokemon Lives!

Before I get started tonight, let me point a couple of things out. I've had several people mention that they forget to check my blog for new posts. I told them I figured that was the case. I can be pretty forgetable. So, to help those like me that on most days would forget their head if it wasn't attached to their neck, I've added a feature on the left side of this blog that allows you to insert your email address. It will automatically email you every time I post something new. Your email address will not be added to any spam lists, nor will I contact you to sell anything. I won't even give it to Congress or the aliens. It's just so you can be notified that it's time for healthy guffaw in my direction. Second, I have also added a guestbook feature to the right side of the blog. Please, sign my guestbook. I keep track of the number of hits the page receives, but it sure would be nice to know who's dropping in.

I am writing while my daughter has Finding Nemo on tv, and is also happily keeping herself entertained with the Speckled Frogs song. So if I all of a sudden break into "Aw, saw the whole thing man. First you were like WHOA! And we were like Whoa! And then you were like whoooaaa." or "eating the most delicious bugs, yum yum" you know why. Oh, for those of you who don't know the Speckled Frogs song, let me lay down the lyrics for you:

Five little speckled frogs,
Sat on the speckled log,
Eating the most delicious bugs,
Yum yum

One jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool,
And now there are four speckled frogs,
Glub glub.

This continues on until there are no more speckled frogs on the speckled log. Sounds annoying, right? Yeah, it is, except when it's your kid that's singing it. And you've never heard her sing it before. She's so cute! And speaking of cutie, here's a pic of Sweetpea and her cousin at Sweetpea's birthday party this past February:

We will never be able to get them to do that again. Yes, this is the same boy I attempted the Horstachio cake for. Which brings me to my subject for tonight. I am very proud to announce that while Horstachio was unable to hang on, we were able to pull Pokemon (or more precisely, Blastoise) through. Tuesday night I completed this Blastoise cake for a co-worker's children:

Ok, so it was more like Wednesday morning. 1:00 in the morning...or so. I must admit, it turned out better than expected. And the customer was happy, which is the most important part. But don't get me wrong, I don't like the cake. I never like any cake that I do, no matter how well it turns out. It's because I can always see the mistakes, even if no one else can. It's a character flaw. But I always learn something new with every cake. Here is a list of things I learned with this cake:

1. Cooking spray sprayed into a curved pan will launch itself off of the surface of the pan and into the air. If you happen to be looking into the pan at too close a distance, it will launch itself into your face, mouth, eyes, hair....

2. Cooking spray with flour, while FANTASTIC stuff to avoid food sticking to the pan, and consequently burning, will sting your eyes to the point that you feel like they are being jabbed out with sharp sticks.

3. Cooking spray with flour also makes you choke, cough and sputter uncontrolably. If you've ever accidentally inhaled powdered sugar or cocoa powder while eating a doughnut, you know what this feels like.

4. Red and blue fondant dry out faster than any of the other colors. A Pokemon toy pushed down into dry fondant will crack the fondant.

5. No one cares about cracked fondant at 1:00 in the morning. Especially the cook.

6. One boxed cake mix makes approximately 4 ½ cups of batter. A ball cake pan requires 2 ¼ cups batter per side. How convenient is that?

7. A ball cake pan comes in two pieces. More batter in one side than the other will result in a ball cake that, were it a real ball, would not roll at all and would probably bounce sideways.

8. Butter-recipe yellow cake mixes call for actual sticks of butter.

9. It is helpful to have sticks of butter in the house when making butter-recipe yellow cake.

10. The cake will never look as good for real as it does in your mind. (This is not new, just something I re-learn every time I make a cake.)

I wonder why I always learn things in 10's.